Finding Out
by Ms.Informed13
Summary: "JJ's head had snapped up at the nickname, and her eyes were trained questioningly on Emily. Rossi rose his eyebrow at the action, but tried to hide his interest. It was almost like JJ was responding to her own name being called, like JJ was used to Emily calling her 'Baby'. " OR an AU in which JJ and Emily are in a relationship, and the team slowly finds out.
1. Agent Morgan

**A/N- JJ and Prentiss are in a relationship together, the team slowly finds out.**

* * *

Agent Prentiss was in the lead with Morgan right behind her. Testing the handle of the front door, she found it to be locked. Without hesitation, she reared back and brought her right foot up solidly against the wood of the door, near the handle. It splintered easily and she shoved her way through as Morgan followed closely.

Their guns were up, Derek's eyes trailed Emily's gun and the thick, black leather strap on her watch. It sild up and down her wrist slightly as she swung the gun to lead her examination of the room.

A movement from the back of the house drew their attention, and Emily was after it in a second, sprinting out the back door and chasing the subject through the back yard. Morgan had hardly made it out the door when he saw Prentiss launch herself at the suspect, tackling him to the ground and securing his hands behind his back.

Rossi and Hotch soon joined them, bursting through the back gate with their guns trained on the man Prentiss was hauling to his feet by his cuffed hands.

"Nice catch, Prentiss." Morgan smiled at his partner.

"Maybe next time you can play linebacker." She joked, bringing her right hand up to push a bit of hair back behind her ear, the thick, black leather strap of her watch slid just slightly down her wrist in the action.

"And take away your fun? What kind of partner would I be?"

She rolled her eyes, escorting the man out of the back yard, and into the waiting SUV.

 **...**

The team piled into the jet, and everyone gathered around the central table to review the case file. They had been able to enjoy the most of a three day weekend before they had been called in on an emergency case that went straight to Hotch, bypassing JJ entirely.

Now, sitting around the table, it was obvious that most of the agents were less than pleased with the interruption. Morgan wasn't too angry at being called in at ten on the Monday morning they were supposed to have off, but Prentiss had a distinctly pissed off expression. JJ looked plain tired, while Rossi was mildly annoyed.

While they waited for the jet to take off, Morgan decided to do what he did best- tease his partner.

"What's got you so worked up, princess?" He asked the brunette sitting across from him.

She glared at him, "None of your business."

"Are you sure? As your partner I feel like I should be informed if there's something that could impact your performance in the field."

Emily scoffed at the implication that anything could impact her performance, and flipped through the case file in an attempt to diffuse attention from herself. Morgan wasn't letting up that easy.

"You look like you were interrupted in the middle of something." He began, teasingly profiling her.

"Morgan." She warned, but was cut off when Reid jumped in on the profile.

"He's right, your hair is in a ponytail. And you only put your hair up like that when we're going out into the field or if it's been a long day. Normally you straighten it, indicating that you were interrupted and didn't have time to get as ready as you normally are when you come into work." Spencer rattled off.

Emily narrowed her eyes at the young genius sitting across the aisle, "Really now?"

"Yes. And judging by the sleep crusted in the corners of your eyes, I would guess that you spent the morning in bed."

Morgan raised an eyebrow at the insinuation that Reid had accidentally made while Prentiss squirmed at the accusation, rubbing her eyes harshly as though they had personally betrayed her, "So, princess, anything you want to let us know about who it was keeping you in bed all morning?"

She coughed subtly into her fist without replying to him. Instead she focused on JJ and Hotch also seated at the table who were looking through their own copies of the case file, "So what time are we taking off?"

"Just a few more minutes." JJ replied, she had a faint smirk as she shook her large watch down her thin wrist so it sat comfortably.

The team settled in for the jet to become airborne as Hotch began briefing the case. It was relatively straightforward and there wasn't much they could do until they got on the ground. So Morgan tried to settle something that had been nagging at the back of his mind all morning.

Prentiss had left her seat at the table and was settled in her usual seat in the back of the jet next to JJ. He waited until the brunette got up to grab a couple of waters, before cornering her at the front of the jet near the small fridge.

"I didn't know you were seeing anyone." He said, making her jump and straighten again to regard him.

"I'm not."

"Random hookup?"

Emily laughed shortly, "Not talking about it with you."

"Come on Em." She tried to step around him, but he blocked her path. Morgan looked at her eyes, and watched her tense body posture, "So it wasn't just a random hookup. You're dating someone and you haven't told me about it either because you're concerned that the team and I won't approve of him or because you don't approve of him and don't want to be embarrassed by it."

Emily's smile made Morgan know that his original suspicion was probably right, "For a professional profiler, you're totally off base."

She managed to edge around him, "Oh, Prentiss." He called at her as she resumed her seat at the back of the jet, "What time is it?"

Out of habit, she brought her right wrist up to check her watch, frowning when she realized she wasn't wearing the usual accessory. He smirked at the scowl she sent him as if it were his fault her wrist was empty.

 **...**

Morgan reclined in his chair, throwing his feet up on the table before him. Half of the team was sitting in a conference room of the local police station, trying to complete a profile to release to the media.

The other half was at the first crime scene, checking out anything the police may have missed. JJ twirled the dry erase marker around in her fingers as she examined the board they had set up so far.

"So we know that the unsub is targeting primarily middle aged couples with no children, that are very well off." JJ rattled off.

Reid nodded along, Morgan tore a piece of paper off his notebook and crumpled it up into a ball. He threw it up as if shooting a basketball and caught it easily.

"Is there anything significant about the race of the couples?" Reid asked.

Morgan threw his ball, and caught it again.

"No, there's two white couples, and one with a white male and hispanic female. It seems to be insignificant." JJ shook her head.

Morgan repeated his action with the ball, and JJ finally interrupted him.

"Care to contribute to the team, Agent Morgan?"

"I'm still processing." He said with a smile, he had been unusually difficult since the interaction with Emily that morning and it was grating on the blonde.

"Well whenever you're ready to begin doing your job." JJ taunted before turning back to the board.

Seeing his chance, Morgan threw caution to the winds and made his move. He chucked his paper ball in a high arch towards JJ, ensuring she had enough time to spin around and catch it.

She transferred the dry erase marker to her left hand to catch the ball smoothly in her dominant right, and held it up triumphantly.

Morgan smiled as his suspicions were confirmed. JJ dropped the ball on the table with a raised eyebrow at the other agent's antics.

"I take it this means you're ready to contribute?" She asked, pushing the thick, black leather strap of the too-large watch back down her thin wrist so it sat comfortably after the upset of catching the paper projectile.

"Yeah I'm ready." Morgan confirmed, dropping his feet from the table and looking JJ straight in the eye, "That's a nice watch." He said with a wink that went unnoticed by Reid, but made JJ flush a bright red.

He knew, and now she knew that he knew.

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 **A/N- Stay tuned, up next is Rossi! Drop a review and let me know what you thought.**


	2. Rossi

**A/N- This one is Rossi, and my personal favorite chapter that I've written so far :).**

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When Prentiss first came to the BAU team, she was taken off guard by the familiarity with which the team operated. They could anticipate the other agent's needs and emotions, they could diffuse each other's tempers within moments. And the first time Derek answered the phone with 'Baby girl', she never would have guessed that there was an agent on the other end.

But she had learned quickly, assimilating and fitting seamlessly into their way of life.

Rossi took a particular interest in how easily she became a part of the team. He watched how she teased Reid like an older sister, horsed around with Morgan like one of the boys, gossiped with Penelope, and could out politic even Hotchner.

He remembered the first distinctive time when it was clear to everyone she truly fit in.

Three weeks after she joined the team, all seven of them were gathered in the BAU room where JJ was briefing them on a case. Reid picked tiredly at a doughnut while images of the victims flashed across the screen.

"The local police have been running in circles, on this one." JJ continued on in the background while Morgan and Prentiss locked gazes over the final remaining doughnut in the box in the middle of the conference room.

If it were normal glazed or even chocolate frosted, Morgan would have let it go and given it to Prentiss. It was the nice thing to do, and he was nothing if not polite. But as it were, the doughnut was a Boston creme. One of those round things with the delicate vanilla filling, and a chocolate frost on top.

Derek raised an eyebrow as if challenging the newer agent to take his pastry, and in a second, the rest of the team was taken by surprise by him and Emily leaping out of their chairs and lunging at the box.

JJ froze in her presentation as the rest of the team watched the altercation with interest.

Mainly due to his longer arms and better reach, Morgan reached the box first, but his large hand was swatted by Emily who met him over the table with a shoulder against his firm bicep. While he was stunned by her agile move, she snatched at the doughnut. She was just bringing it back to herself when from the last second, it slipped from her fingertips and Derek caught it millimeters above the tabletop with a triumphant grin.

Before Emily could make another move at it, he flipped the doughnut upside down and licked the bottom of the pastry, "Mine now." He said with a juvenile grin.

Prentiss's mouth dropped open at the nerve of him to steal the final doughnut and claim it in such a way. As if to rub his victory in, Derek carefully ripped the pastry in half and offered the smaller part of the licked doughnut out to Emily over the table.

"I guess I can share."

The entire team watched as Prentiss took a second to look at the doughnut skeptically, she knew this moment was suddenly about more than just fried dough covered in sugar.

With a smirk, she accepted the piece of doughnut graciously, "Thank you, Morgan." Pushing away, any lingering uncertainty, she bit off a bit of the pastry, chewed, and swallowed.

The smiles reflected around the table, let her know instantly that she had made the right move as the team settled back in so JJ could finish briefing them.

"Note to self, buy more Boston cremes." Garcia joked, "Apparently the morning snack is a serious deal."

"You have no idea, Sugar." Prentiss winked at the technical analyst, using the term of endearment for the first time. Rossi watched as her shoulders noticeably relaxed and she allowed herself to drop her guard just the smallest amount. It was the start of the long road to trust that all members of the team had to go through.

 **...**

That's how he initially noticed when she seemed to begin ignoring JJ.

It was a few months after her transfer, the team had traveled to Cincinnati on a case. Their first day was gratingly long and when they retired to their hotel that evening, the team was all on edge.

Normally, everyone got their own rooms, but due to the proximity of the case to Christmas, the only remaining rooms were doubles and the girls had to bunk together. When the team parted ways in the hotel lobby, everyone was exhausted, but on good terms. When they regrouped the following morning, Emily seemed to be trying especially hard to avoid the blonde.

She got into a different SUV, though they normally rode together. She sat as far away as she could at the conference table, though they were normally next to eachother. She made a pointed effort to talk to Morgan and Reid exclusively, though it always seemed like the girls were laughing together about something.

This conduct kept up for the full few days that they were in Cincinnati before heading back to DC.

Rossi decided to finally confront the young woman about it on the flight home when she sat next to him instead of in her usual seat by JJ.

"What's going on with the two of you?"he asked, not even bothering to beat around the bush.

"What do you mean?"

"You've been ignoring JJ all week."

Immediately Prentiss shifted uncomfortably, she didn't want to have to lie to the man who she was so close to, but she couldn't tell him the truth, "I haven't been ignoring her."

"You hardly said two words to her throughout the entire case, and now you're not sitting with her. You two always sit with each other."

"It's not a big deal." Prentiss muttered under her breath as she realized how obvious she had been.

"What happened? Did you do something embarrassing when you were sharing a room? Wake her up with your snoring? Talk in your sleep?"

Prentiss couldn't stand the interrogation anymore as she stood from her seat, "Yeah, that's what happened."

She moved down the jet to get a cup of coffee as Rossi called after her, "Which one was it?"

She ignored the question, and once she had gotten her coffee, she took her normal seat next to JJ. The blonde smiled warmly at her as she sat down and couldn't resist running her fingers up and down Prentiss's forearm.

None of which went unnoticed by Rossi.

 **...**

Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi were all milling around the conference room of the local police station, trying to complete the profile of the killer terrorizing Portland.

"We're looking for someone who works in the school system." Prentiss began, pacing up and down near the back wall.

"But they have a grudge against the kids." Morgan reminded her.

"So a member of the staff who's not a teacher, like the janitors or deans or something?"

Rossi interrupted them, "What if we've got it all wrong? What if it's a teacher who's had some sort of confrontation with a student and now is taking out his rage on every kid who reminds him of it?"

"That's good." Morgan agreed, nodding.

"What if we get Garcia to pull a list of all the professors in the area who have been investigated for foul play with their students?" Prentiss was already pulling out her cell phone to make the call when JJ, and Hotch joined them in the conference room.

"We talked with the family of the most recent victim, they're compiling a list of any adults who their son interacted with on a regular basis." Hotch said, he and JJ both took seats at the table.

JJ was right next to Rossi, she pulled out her cell phone to check through any messages from the field office.

"Hey, Baby." Prentiss smiled into her cellphone. The greeting didn't pique Rossi's attention as Prentiss went on to ask Garcia to compile the list for them, what did catch his notice was the flash of blonde hair in the corner of his vision.

JJ's head had snapped up at the nickname, and her eyes were trained questioningly on Emily, as her hands froze on her cell phone. Rossi rose his eyebrow at the action, but tried to hide his interest.

It was almost like JJ was responding to her own name being called, like she had learned to expect that those words from Emily's mouth meant that it was her attention being begged.

It was like JJ was used to Emily calling her 'Baby'.

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you all for reading and the reviews you left to the previous chapter, I'm blown away by the response. In reply to a couple of you, I put the wrong Prentiss cause I'm an idiot, but not to worry, all has been corrected!**

 **Drop a review, let me know what you thought!**


	3. Hotchner

**A/N- This one is Hotch!**

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The first time that Hotchner noticed the protectiveness between the two women was in Colorado when Emily and Reid were trapped in the compound. The moment the news hit, the team was loaded up in SUVs and on their way over.

JJ was silent the entire way there, sitting shotgun next to Hotch, she replied to every question with a monosyllabic clipped answer.

When they unloaded and set up their command center, things got worse. Emily was taken into a back room and beaten by the man in charge.

From the second that Emily volunteered herself as the FBI agent in Reid's place and was separated from him, JJ shut down. She was near comatose listening to the grunts of pain coming over their comms as Emily was shoved, beaten, and broken down.

The team could hear every impact as Emily's body hit the shelves or the ground, they heard her gasp for breath as the man delivered another blow to her ribs, and they heard her continued insistence that she could 'take it.'

That's what really made JJ lose it. She ripped of her headphones, glaring at Hotch, "We have to get her out of there."

"If we do, we risk the lives of everyone in there."

The thud of what had to be Emily's body landing on the ground accentuated JJ's point, "So in the meantime you're just going to let him torture her like that?"

Hotch knew something was up at this point, but he attributed it to the close bond all three women in the BAU shared, "As long as Agent Prentiss says she can take it, I'm not going to endanger the lives of dozens of innocents."

"It's Prentiss!" JJ all but yelled, "She would say she can take anything, no matter if her body is telling her otherwise!"

The press was watching, and this was one scene that Hotch could not allow to be broadcast, "Agent Jeauru, I think you need to take a walk."

His tone left no question that it was more order than suggestion, so with one final warning glare, JJ dropped her headset on the table and walked away to one of the black sedans they had driven out in.

When they finally managed to get Emily and Reid out safely, JJ was the first one to throw her arms around Prentiss's middle and pull her into a tight hug. She didn't let go for a long time, until the the shoulder of Emily's shirt was darkened with the blonde's tears.

Hotch still didn't quite suspect something when JJ finally did let go and moved to give Reid a similar treatment.

What sealed the deal for him was when the team went to visit Emily in the hospital a few hours later. JJ had ridden in the ambulance with Prentiss and had held her hand through the entire time she was getting stitched up- she only let go when they had to take Emily to x-ray and check for internal injuries.

The other four agents made it to the hospital a couple of hours after Emily had been cleared of internal bleeding. They checked in at the nurse's station where they were given an update. The nurse in charge smiled in reassurance, and reminded them to keep quiet as the agent needed her rest.

What gave the team pause was when the kind old nurse said that the room might be a tight squeeze because, "Agent Prentiss's girlfriend hasn't left all night."

Morgan and Rossi laughed in the good natured way which meant that they both knew the truth in the statement but were reluctant to admit it. Hotch's brow furrowed in thought while Reid just stood in confusion, "Does Emily have a girlfriend?"

Morgan was quick with an explanation, "No kid, it's her work girlfriend."

"Her what?" Reid asked as the four men headed down the hall to Emily's room.

"It's like Hotch is our work dad, and Rossi is our work mom. Pen is the eccentric aunt. Emily and JJ are work married."

Rossi smacked the younger agent's arm in indignation, "Why am I the mother?"

"Because you're clearly so loving and nurturing." Morgan smirked.

They drew to a stop outside of the room where Prentiss was located as they all froze in the same sense that they were intruding on an intimate moment. Emily was laid out in the hospital bed, badly bruised, and covered in white bandages that were over her stitches. JJ was also on the narrow bed, curled into Emily's side, her head resting on the brunette's chest, her arm around her waist.

In that moment, it was clear to Hotch what was going on. The four simultaneously agreed to back out of the room and let the women sleep, Prentiss was in good hands.

 **...**

Hotch did what the other two men did, and buried his knowledge. He didn't say anything when the women sat together in the back of the jet, or when they ate lunch together in JJ's office.

He looked the other way when Emily would slip up and run her hand reassuringly across the small of JJ's back when she got anxious. He pretended not to notice the way that JJ's hand took up permanent residence on Emily's thigh when the jet was in the air.

The team leader played dumb when he knocked on the hotel doors to rouse the team and heard two responses from one of the women's rooms and no response from the other.

He tried to justify this ignorance by assuring himself that it wasn't technically against the rules. JJ was the media liaison, she wasn't a member of the BAU itself, she was just attached to it. Therefore, the two weren't really teammates and there wasn't an issue with them dating.

Or so he told himself.

Still, with that knowledge, he could never handle to the two women together the same way, like when they were taking down a killer in rural Georgia

... **Flashback to Georgia...**

The three black sedans pulled up outside the warehouse, Hotch was barking orders the second their feet hit the ground, "JJ, Morgan, Reid go around the back, Prentiss, Rossi, come with me and we'll take the front entrance. Remember this suspect is a major flight risk and we profiled him as highly intelligent."

The agents did as directed, moving into position outside the abandoned warehouse. Shortly after JJ, Morgan, and Reid were ready in the back, Hotch gave the order to enter over the comms. They burst in, confronted with a long hallway and branching corridors, a single flight of stairs was visible to the left. JJ took the stairs as Reid and Morgan moved down the hall, clearing rooms as they went. In the front of the warehouse, Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss were confronted with what had clearly been the unsub's work area. They were momentarily stunned by the remenants of violence they were unable to ignore.

Until a yell from the upstairs drew their attention.

"He's upstairs!" It was unmistakably JJ's voice, and Hotch easily saw the thinly veiled panic sweep across Emily's features at the noise.

They heard the pounding footsteps of a chase before another shout from JJ, "He's going out the fire escape!"

Prentiss was the first one out of the door, sprinting around the side of the warehouse where she had seen the fire escape leading when they first arrived, Hotch and Rossi were right on her tail.

When they rounded the building, they saw JJ two steps behind the unsub, her gun drawn, "Freeze, FBI!" The man grabbed JJ's arm, and easily threw her down the stairs ahead of himself.

Emily froze in fear as she watched the blonde's pettite body tumble down a full flight of stairs before coming to rest unmoving at the bottom. The unsub kept running, jumping over JJ's body on the ground before he tried to sprint around down the alley.

Hotch didn't think about his next order as he and Rossi took off down the alley, "Prentiss, make sure JJ is alright."

The brunette didn't hesitate in dropping to her knees beside JJ, she holstered her weapon and ran a hand over JJ's hair. The younger woman was unresponsive and Emily tried her best not to freak out as she kneeled over JJ's head. She ran her hands up and down the blonde's sides, checking her over for injury, "Jennifer, honey can you hear me?"

The press liaison was quiet for a long moment, before she released a low and shaky cough and her eyes finally fluttered open. She locked gazes with Emily crouched over her and a faint smile crept onto her lips, "Whatever happened to no nicknames at work?"

Brown eyes widened first in disbelief, then in relief as Emily took in JJ's words. When JJ laughed at her own joke, the older agent flicked her lightly on the arm, "You're an asshole."

"But I'm your asshole."

"For now."

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 **A/N- Thank you for your reviews, and continued reading. Also, thanks for keeping me honest on the timeline of Gideon being there in the beginning, not Rossi, let's just pretend like this timeline makes sense... yeah?**

 **Finally, I just want to make sure that I'm not missing any characters, I'm writing for Morgan, Rossi, Hotch, Reid, Garcia, and Gideon, did I miss anyone? Or is there another person you want me to add?**


	4. Reid

**A/N- This one is Reid! It was a lot of fun to write, and hopefully it will be just as fun for you to read!**

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Emily got poison ivy when she went trekking through the woods with Rossi as the team investigated the suicides at the military school. Garcia was quick on the alcohol swabs, and Emily only ended up getting a small rash.

Reid watched from his seat across the aisle from the jet as Emily scratched at her arm.  
"You shouldn't scratch the poison ivy." He advised, "If you break the blisters, they could end up scarring over."

"I wasn't scratching." She weakly protested, pulling her sleeves back down over the red skin.

Reid merely shook his head and went back to reading his current book. The cabin lights dimmed as many agents nodded off for the flight back, Reid flicked on his overhead to see his book clearly. Reid finished his book, and stood to find himself a cup of tea, and when he returned, he caught a sight that brought a smile to his face.

JJ was holding Prentiss's hand in her own, running her free one up and down the brunette's arm to provide some light relief for the burning rash. It was nice for him to see how well the two women got along. He had always looked at JJ as a sort of a mother figure, and Prentiss as an older sister, the team was his second family, and it was moments like this that made him feel that unconditional love.

…

Exactly two days later. after the team had arrived back from the case, they was sitting in the briefing room while JJ stood in front of them going over their newest case. Her sleeve slid up her arm slightly, and Reid identified the redness he saw there easily.

As the blonde continued on in her briefing, he couldn't help but interject, "You have poison ivy."

"No, I don't." JJ replied immediately, subconsciously pushing her sleeve back into place.

"Yes, you do." His eyes narrowed, "Where did you get it?"

JJ sighed as she gave up trying to lie, "I don't know Reid, a poison ivy bush?"

He accepts it for a full five seconds before something else occured to him, "When? There's been literally no time for you to have gone into a wooded area and come in contact with the plant. Not to mention, it's not indigenous to the area. You would have to have driven nearly four hours to encounter a plant in the wild."

Morgan smirked from across the table, "Prentiss, didn't you have poison ivy just two days ago?"

Reid shook his head, "Poison ivy is only caused by direct contact with urushiol oil. JJ couldn't have gotten the rash from Prentiss unless she was in direct contact with the clothes that Emily was wearing when she walked into the woods."

JJ ignored the both of them, continuing on in her briefing. Morgan's smirk grew while Reid was simply puzzled. He tried to reason out the poison ivy connection, but was drawing a blank.

…

Reid, Prentiss, and JJ were all gathered around Garcia whose fingers were flying across her keyboard at lightning speed.

"I cannot believe this is happening." Prentiss said from over Penelope's shoulder.

"You had better believe it, big eyes." In moments, the screen was filled with the image of Hotch, but not Hotch as any of the team knew him. Rather, it was a photo of Hotch in high school. He was in the awkward phase just after his freshman year where his body was nearly fully grown, but he still didn't know how to operate it quite yet.

His shoulders hunched slightly, and his too large ears stood out goofily from his chiseled chin.

"This is too good." Emily laughed, her eyes scanning quickly over the photograph.

"Do Rossi next!" JJ suggested excitedly.

"Your wish is my command." Garcia said, already typing.

While the tech genius was working her magic at the computer, Prentiss backed up just the slightest, and searched behind her for a mug. She brought the ceramic to her lips triumphantly and sipped at the lukewarm coffee. It was sweeter than she was used to, and almost immediately, Emily knew her mistake, though she tried to play it off like it was nothing and she took another long sip.

That done, she set the mug down on the desk, "Not next to my baby!" Gracia immediately chastised.

The brunette rolled her eyes, but complied, picking up the mug.

"What shade of lipstick are you wearing, Emily?"

"What?"

Reid pointed at the lipstick stains around the rim of the mug, "What is the shade called? It doesn't hardly show up on your lips."

JJ smirked, "Yeah Em, what color do you wear?"

Prentiss's eyes narrowed on the blonde, "It's something new I picked up a few months ago." Emily replied, her tone laced with double meaning. JJ's rose her eyebrow in challenge, the two of them had just started dating a few months prior, "I thought it was a good match, but I'm starting to have my doubts."

Reid was lost as he looked from the rim of the mug to Emily's mouth, the shades didn't quite match, but he just chalked it up to most of it having rubbed off over their long day of work.

…

For all his education and all his raw knowledge, poor Reid never did catch on until the relationship was put right in his face in a way he understood. He became suspicious truly when the team was flying all the way out to California for a case. On the way out, he played his usual game of chess with Rossi. After losing terribly, to the older man, Reid took a moment to stare intently at the chess board. He played the game over and over in his mind, pinpointing the moves that had lead to Rossi's victory.

He was jolted from his studying of the board when a dark haired agent slid into the seat opposite him that Rossi had just vacated.

Without saying anything, Prentiss began resetting the board. When it was back as it should be, Emily smiled, "White moves first."

Reid returned the smile and they began to play.

They had done this multiple times before, and even though he had seen Emily's signature moves dozens of times flying across the country, he couldn't beat her, and she got to checkmate in fifteen moves.

With a victorious grin, Emily made her way back to the rear of the jet where she sat with JJ. Their heads close together in conversation.

The case went surprisingly well, the team managing to catch the unsub before he killed any more victims. Before they knew it, they were back on the jet headed to DC.

Moment after the jet was airborne, JJ was practically bouncing down the aisle to sit across from Spencer. He put his book down, regarding her with interest, "You, me, chess, now."

Reid fished the game out from where they stored it beneath the table and began setting up. This wasn't the first time he had played JJ, but it was the first time that she initiated the game. Normally it was him begging and pleading until she relented, unlike the other members of the team, she had never played growing up, and she was simply less experienced.

Now Reid watched with interest as JJ relied heavily on her knights to take out several of his pieces. Her style was crude, yet effective, and once she had the opportunity to corner his king, Reid's eyes practically bugged out of his head.

"Prentiss!" He exclaimed loudly, nearly jumping out of his seat in the realization.

"What?" JJ asked innocently.

"You and Prentiss, she and you!"

"Reid, I have no idea what you're talking about"

"That's her move!" He said, gesturing at the chess board, "She must have taught you, but you hate chess."

JJ merely shrugged, smirking lightly. She left, resuming her normal seat with Emily.

When Emily greeted the blonde with a soft smile, and JJ rested her hand on Emily's thigh, the two snuggling together for the remainder of the flight home, everything finally clicked for him.

"Check mate." He whispered under his breath, shaking his head, his cheeks flushing slightly under his realization.

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 **A/N- Thanks for your reviews, keep them coming, and I'll definitely take into account all your great suggestions for other POVs to write from!**


	5. Agent Swan

**A/N- So I'm hard at work on those great suggestions you gave me, in the meantime here's one of the first snaps shots I wrote. It's from the POV of a new agent like after JJ and Prentiss came clean (if you watch OUAT then yes, this is THAT Emma Swan, because I love the little crossover bits!)**

* * *

"So I hear there's a new tour guide in town." Prentiss teased, raising her eyebrow to get Rossi and Reid to play along.

"Yeah, did they give you one of those cute little miniature flags so you don't lose any of your guests?" Rossi was quick to catch on and he took every opportunity to tease Morgan.

"Yeah, yeah make all the fun you want." The man took the teasing well, "At least I get a break from paperwork this morning."

"Doesn't that just mean you'll have to work twice as hard this afternoon to makeup for it?" The ever practical Reid pointed out.

The team was getting a new member to cover for Morgan when he took some personal time in the next month for his sister's wedding, and it was his job now to show the new agent around and get them up to speed. The agent was set to arrive any minute.

Prentiss checked her watch, "Looks like your replacement is already late, that's not a good sign."

Just then, a mess of blonde curls came tumbling out of the elevator and barreled through the bullpen towards the little gathering of agents. The woman stopped short of them, pushing some hair behind her ear and juggling her possessions so her right hand was free, "Sorry I was late, security." She said, the other four nodded, it was quite the ordeal getting into their buildings, "I'm Agent Emma Swan." She offered her hand to Morgan to shake, "You must be Agent Morgan."

He accepted it graciously, "I am, but please, call me Derek." Morgan gestured to the rest of the agents around his desk, "This is SSA Rossi, SSA Prentiss, and Doctor Reid." Each one nodded in turn while the new agent tried to absorb their names, "Our Unit Chief is SSA Hotchner, he seems to be in JJ's office right now, she's our Press Liaison." He pointed across the office at where the blonde's office door was open and they could see the two agents through her cracked blinds.

He led the new woman away from the group to show her around the rest of the office, while the other three put their heads together.

"Ten bucks says she loses her lunch at the first crime scene." Prentiss offered.

Rossi appraised the young blonde from where Morgan was pointing out the coffee machines near the door, "No, she seems like the stoic type. I'll bet you that ten that she keeps it together at the crime scene, but doesn't eat for at least 24 hours after we see that first body."

"Did you see her running in all flustered? No way she can keep it together, I'll take that bet." The two brunettes shook on it.

They were interrupted from their little exchange by Hotch and JJ coming out of the liaison's office, "We have a case. Conference room in five."

During the briefing, Prentiss watched with a smirk as Agent Swan could hardly hide her shock at the photos of the three crime scenes.

"Wheels up in twenty." Hotch said as JJ concluded her briefing, and the team exited the conference room.

In the meantime, Morgan and Reid talked to the new agent, while Prentiss and JJ took up post in the blonde's office. When they all got on the jet later, Morgan and Swan sat at one of the tables, across from Prentiss and JJ. Reid was in a nearby chair, reclined and reading.

The jet was in the air within minutes, and JJ and Prentiss got up to get coffee, leaving Morgan alone with Swan.

"So, what's everyone's deal?" The new agent asked.

The man smiled, he knew what she was getting at, but he was going to make her work for it, "What do you mean?"

"You know, the quick and easy. What do I need to know to make it here while you're gone?"

Morgan smirked, "You're going to be a profiler, you tell me."

Emma rose to the challenge, "Well Reid is young but distinguished, so he's probably a bit of a rambler, with a dry sense of humor. Rossi seems to be an all around good guy, and I've read his books so I know that he's seasoned, but he obviously doesn't have an inflated ego because of it. Hotch has that whole hard exterior thing, but his wedding ring and the photos of his son make it clear that he's a family man. JJ is confident and she sees everything, she probably carries a lot on her shoulders from all the cases we don't take. The only person I can't quite get a read on is Prentiss."

Morgan smiled, he could see his partner coming down the aisle of the plane and decided to have a bit of fun with her, "Yeah, it's hard to get a fix on Prentiss."

The brunette sat down, her interest was piqued by the mention of her name and she quirked an eyebrow to get Morgan to continue.

"She's a hard worker with a chip on her shoulder. She thinks she needs to prove she got her position based on merit, but it's clear to all of us she deserves everything she has." Emily blushed a bit in her partner's assessment of her, but Morgan couldn't just leave a good thing, "The most important thing with Prentiss though, is that she belongs to the blonde." He smirked nodding at JJ who was still in the far back of the jet, stirring her coffee.

"I do not-" Prentiss tried to dismiss, but Morgan cut her off.

"She does. And not in the cute kind of way with promise rings and longs walks on the beach. It's more in the devoted puppy dog kind of way which is an interesting cross between her being totally whipped and her thinking that she isn't."

Prentiss's mouth hung open for a moment as she glared at her partner. Agent Swan just sat quietly, and tried not to laugh at the interaction between the two.

Finally, Prentiss gathered herself together enough to reply, "I don't belong to anyone. Agent Jareau and I are in a committed adult relationship and have been for nearly two years. And I resent the fact that you just likened me to a puppy dog."

"So you don't belong to JJ?"

"No! For the last time JJ and I-"

"Em, can you come here for a second?" JJ asked from across the jet.

"Coming." Prentiss said, she was half out of her seat without a thought, before she realized what had just happened. Morgan had the biggest grin on his face, knowing that he had just won, "This doesn't prove anything." Prentiss said, on her way down the aisle toward her girlfriend.

"Whapish!" Morgan hollered after her, making a whipping motion with his wrist. Emily flipped him off over her shoulder.

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 **A/N- Thanks for your reviews and continued reading!**


	6. Garcia

**A/N- This one is Garcia!**

* * *

It seems that Penelope Garcia was the only member of the BAU team who did not need to find out for herself about Emily and JJ's relationship. In fact, she could not avoid it.

Being the ever observant and omniscient wealth of knowledge that she was, Penelope sensed the obvious tension between the two women before they ever realized it themselves.

Her first indication was after one of their notorious girls' nights. The three of them ended up pretty wasted, and so they unanimously decided to spend the night at Garcia's apartment as it was the closest to the bar they were at.

Unfortunately, the tech analyst had no extra bedroom, so JJ and Emily were left to duke it out over her couch. JJ won.

In the morning, when Garcia went to rouse the two women and brew a fresh pot of coffee she grew concerned when she saw the couch totally empty. Going to investigate, she found a mess of brown and blonde hair all mixed together on the floor. Emily was lying flat on her back, with JJ curled against her chest. Emily's arms were tight around JJ's torso, holding her in close.

Penelope had enough insight to leave it up to the two women how they wanted to handle waking up in each other's arms, she crept the rest of the way to her kitchen, and proceeded to make as much noise as humanly possible banging around the kitchen to make the coffee.

She faintly heard what sounded like an apology before she saw Emily half sprinting to the kitchen.  
Penelope smiled as she watched the brunette throw her hair up in a messy pony.

"What?" The agent asked.

"Nothing." Penelope dismissed, "How did you sleep?"

"Well enough." She knew that the tech analyst was fishing, and she wasn't playing along.

"Mhm, I'm sure."

...

So began Penelope's quest as match maker. It was a long, hard road, and her next break didn't come until Cincinnati. The team had a case so close to Christmas that hotel bookings were tight. Being the tech goddess that she was, Penelope could have easily pulled some strings, but instead she decided to set up her two favorite agents in denial, forcing them to room together. When they returned, you could practically cut the sexual tension with a knife.

She was sure they were so obtuse they would never get together, until all of a sudden they did, and she knew it.

Friday night, the team was stuck working late finishing up some reports for a case they had just closed. Penelope was one of the first done, she was bubbly as ever as she headed out to the bullpen to talk to the rest of the team. She perched on Morgan's desk with a wide smile, "Who's up for drinks?"

"I'm in." Morgan agreed easily.

"Me too." Reid capped his pen, done already.

"What about you, big eyes?" Penelope turned to Prentiss who had yet to reply.

The brunette closed her phone from where she had been checking her messages, "Yeah, that sounds like fun."

"I'll go check with JJ." The tech analyst hopped off the edge of Morgan's desk, patting his shoulder on the way around.

JJ was behind her desk, her head dropped in one hand, massaging her temple. Her other hand was on her desk as she tapped out a text message.

"Good evening my blue eyed beauty." Penelope sang as she leaned in the doorway of the office. She took in her friend's disheveled appearance- disheveled for JJ was different than it was for normal people. It was more subtle, evident in her freely escaping hair, her untucked blouse, and her cracked nail polish.

"How would you like a team night out to the local watering hole?"

JJ pulled her lips into her best attempt at a smile, hoping it looked less like a grimace than it felt, "Sorry Pen, I've got a horrible migraine. I think I'm just going to head home."

The tech analyst nodded. She knew that JJ had taken the last case harder than everyone else. They hadn't been able to save the final victim, and JJ blamed herself, "I understand. You get some sleep and come back bright and shiny on Monday."

"Yes Ma'am." JJ sent her off a weak two fingered salute.

As Penelope headed out of the office and over to the bullpen to get the other three going to the bar with her, she saw Prentiss check her phone and a frown came over the brunette's face.

"Pen, I forgot this thing. I'm sorry, I can't go with you."

The gears were quickly turning in the blonde's head as she accepted her friend's bad excuse.

Fifteen minutes later, Penelope was wrapping up things in her office to head out for the night. Morgan and Reid had already left with plans of meeting her at the bar, and as far as she knew, Prentiss and JJ had gone as well.

Penelope packed her purse and pulled out her pepper spray as she walked out to the parking garage. There were a few cars still out, but not many. FBI agents did work hard, but they still had lives.

She was halfway through unlocking her car, when voices drew her attention. Penelope froze with her pepper spray raised as she looked wildly around the parking garage for the source of the voices.

"Em-"

"Just hear me out."

Penelope knew those voices, she edged quietly around her car, trying to spot where they were coming from. Emily's oversized Jeep was parked a few spaces away from the tech analyst's and when she peeked around her trunk, she saw something that brought a wide smile to her face.

Emily had JJ up against the Jeep. She had one hand on the younger woman's waist while the other hand was pushing some of JJ's hair behind her ear. JJ leaned into the touch, her arms locked around Emily's neck.

"Fine, what do you have to offer, Agent Prentiss?" Penelope could see the flirtatious spark in JJ's eyes all the way from across the parking garage.

"We can watch a movie, I'll cook you dinner, and if you're nice, I might even give you a foot rub."

"Oh, that sounds sexy. Is that how you get all your women?"

"Just the most important one."

Emily went in for a kiss which the blonde happily reciprocated. Penelope's disappointment at her friend ditching the bar night was easily overshadowed by her joy of her two best friends finally getting together. She silently did a little happy dance- congratulating herself for making the women room together in Cincinnati and waited until Emily's Jeep left the garage before getting in her own car and driving to get herself a celebratory drink.

...

It was a normal day in the BAU when Penelope was next confronted with the relationship. She began a group message with Prentiss and JJ, asking about the three of them all going out to dinner that evening.

They quickly made plans, JJ vehemently voting for Chinese until Emily caved and agreed to her girlfriend's choice.

That settled, Penelope set her phone aside and went back to her computer. A couple of moments later, her phone buzzed with a text message.

Her eyes bugged as she read the message from Emily, clearly not meant for her.

 _'I can't stop thinking about last night, and I need you now.'_

The tech analyst was about to reply, letting her friend know she had the wrong number, when her phone chimed with another message.

 _'I can't wait until tonight. I'll be in your office in five minutes, close the blinds and clear your couch, or your desk- I remember how much you liked it on there last time ;)'_

Penelope tried to refrain from swallowing her tongue as she finally found the ability to type out a reply. She waited on sending it though, until she made her way up to the bullpen so she could watch Emily's reaction.

 _'Oh big eyes, as much as I would love to, it might take more than five minutes to clear my desk because of all the computers.'_

The brunette agent's eyes grew wide as her face turned bright crimson. She typed a quick reply while shooting a glance around the office as if everyone suddenly knew her plans with JJ.

 _'How much will it take for you to pretend that never happened?"_

 _'Morning coffee for the next two months and I get to tease you about it as much as I want.'_

 _'Deal'_

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you all for your reviews and reading, keep it up, and I hope you're still enjoying this story! Next up is Gideon.**

 **If you have any suggestions, please don't hesitate to let me know!**


	7. Gideon

**A/N- Hey all, this one is from Gideon's POV since I sort of forgot he existed in the very beginning.**

* * *

Gideon was arguably the first on the team to notice the relationship. He noticed it before the women even realized it themselves.

Gideon noticed it in one of the very first cases that Emily worked once she joined the team. The one with the psychotic who had a split personality. The moment that he, Morgan, and Emily burst into the barn, their guns sweeping side to side, he knew something was off.

JJ popped up, yelling at them to freeze. The blonde was frantic until Emily stepped into her path, commanding her attention.

"JJ, hey, Jennifer." She said softly, staring deep into the younger agent's eyes, "Hey, it's alright. It's just us. Where's Reid?"

"We split up. He went around to the back."

There was no further conversation when Morgan and Gideon sprinted out the back of the barn, and Emily stayed to comfort JJ.

That was his first 'inkling'. But it wasn't until later that evening that Gideon was positive that the two women were going to end up together. When he was walking through the house with Prentiss, and they passed the bathroom. JJ whirled around, gun up, eyes flashing.

"Woah, it's just me." Prentiss immediately said, one hand out in reassurance. JJ dropped her gun, running a hand through her hair. She didn't even notice Gideon out in the hall too.

"I'm sorry." JJ apologized.

"No, I'm sorry." Emily replied, going into the bathroom slowly. She reached out to JJ carefully so as not to frighten the younger woman. When JJ showed no signs of bolting, Emily wrapped her up securely.

Prentiss patted down JJ's hair, whispering reassurances into her ear. Gideon knew better, and bowed out gracefully, making his way back down the hallway.

…

From there on, it was a waiting game. Waiting for JJ and Prentiss to realize their feelings for themselves, waiting for them to actually get together, and waiting for them to come clean to the team.

He would never know when they admitted their feelings to themselves, but he happily stumbled upon when they finally admitted it to each other.

It was when the team was on a case in New Orleans. The local officer in charge of the investigation was Will LaMontagne Jr, a perfect Southern gentleman with a drawl, who had his sleeves rolled to his elbows perpetually, and wasn't afraid to indulge a little bit on the job.

He hit shamelessly on JJ.

Emily noticed.

Or rather, Gideon noticed the way that Emily's jaw would clench when Will would lean into JJ's space to tell her something, the way she would assert herself next to the blonde dominantly with her hands on her hips and stare Will down coldly.

He was hopeful that Will would be the shove both women needed to finally get together, and he was correct.

His suspicions were confirmed once and for all the evening they finished the case. Will had once again been flirting with JJ, and went so far as to give the woman his phone number. JJ had responded kindly like she always does, but Emily hadn't stopped pouting since.

Just as Gideon had decided to talk to her, JJ beat him to the punch.

Gideon watched JJ take Prentiss by the elbow and lead her away from the mass of people around the motel where the case had ended. They disappeared from sight around the corner.

Gideon let them fall from his mind while they tied up loose ends. It wasn't until about ten minutes later when Hotch was gearing up to head back to DC that the boss wondered where his female agents had disappeared to.

Gideon immediately volunteered to go and grab them.

He took his time slowly walking around the corner, not caring at all that he was eavesdropping. The women's voices met him before he caught sight of them.

"I don't want you to be with anyone else." Emily's unmistakable husky voice said.

"Really now?" JJ's question had a teasing edge.

"I want you to be mine." Emily confirmed. Gideon couldn't help but smile a bit at that, it was no surprise that the brunette didn't like sharing her toys.

Hearing nothing further, Gideon assumed it safe to poke his head around the corner and tell the women they were heading out.

His assumption was proved wrong as he rounded the corner to be greeted with the sight of Emily pressing JJ into the wall of the motel. The two were attached at the lips, JJ had her fingers threaded through Emily's hair while Prentiss was raking her hands up and down the blonde's sides. Gideon froze in shock for a second before backing out.

He walked backwards for eight steps, then called out loudly, "Emily, JJ, are you two over here somewhere?"

He heard a sigh, and some rustling before Emily replied, "Yeah, we're headed back now."

Just as he was about to head off, he heard the brunette say something else, softer, with a distinct whine in her voice, "No, just one more."

"Beggar." JJ admonished, but Gideon heard the distinct sound of another kiss before JJ rounded the corner with a little extra bounce in her step.

…

Gideon got to see how truly perfect the women were for each other the evening after a particularly hard case. The serial killer taking out homeless people in masses, locking them in a warehouse and torturing them before finally dismembering them.

To unwind, Gideon set up an old projector in the conference room, and the whole team gathered around to watch Charlie Chaplain together. JJ and Emily sat near each other, Reid in front of them, then JJ, then Emily.  
A few minutes in, Emily tosses a piece of popcorn in a wide arch so it went over the blonde's head and landed squarely in Reid's hair.

JJ giggled, and contributed a piece to the back of Reid's head. Through the movie, Gideon kept a sideways eye on the two women. He watched how slowly JJ's chair rolled backwards while Emily's scooted forwards until they were side by side. The blonde leant gently against the older woman's side, their biceps just gently touching. As the movie wore on, the contact got more and more bold, until by the time the credits rolled, JJ's head was resting on Emily's shoulder, and the brunette had her hand securely on JJ's thigh.

When Morgan stood and flicked the light switch on, the woman jumped apart subtly. Emily's arms went above her head in a stretch and JJ covered her blush in a yawn.

Gideon just smiled to himself and began packing up the projector.

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 **A/N- Thanks for reading/ reviewing, have a great Monday!**


	8. Strauss

**A/N- So I do believe some lovely readers were asking for Strauss. And here you go!**

* * *

Erin Strauss was hard on her agents, hard on the liquor, but hardest on herself. She took every infraction personally, and tried her damndest to keep her agents asses covered from internal affairs investigations. Which was why she was so mad initially when she found out about Emily and JJ.

She knew Emily since she was a girl, having rubbed elbows with Ambassador Prentiss on various occasions, but nothing could have prepared her for the force that Emily grew into. Her first encounter with Tropical Storm Emily Prentiss was around nine thirty in the evening a couple of weeks after the brunette had joined the BAU.

Strauss had gone up to the roof for a quick smoke to try and release some stress after a hard day going up against another federal agency. She was flicking ash off the end of her first cigarette when Emily pushed out of the door. At first the younger woman didn't notice Strauss at all as she pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and a lighter. She lit the stock with an ease that let the director know it wasn't Emily's first.

The brunette took a long drag, coughing slightly on her exhale before she noticed Strauss. She greeted the director with a curt nod, pulling her jacket closer for warmth.

"Does your mother know you smoke?"

Emily's smile was tight, she took another drag before replying, "I don't smoke anymore."

Strauss raised her eyebrows in question, "I smoked like a chimney when mother was on assignment in Eastern Europe, but I quit in college. I hadn't smoked in ten years before I joined the BAU."

The director nodded, "It's not an easy job."

"I've only gone through half a pack, but it feels like I'm losing a piece of myself each time I smoke."

Strauss merely nodded, she understood exactly what Emily meant. She would never have guessed the small girl who stood proudly next to Ambassador Prentiss with a confident smile at ten years old would turn into this picture of slight defiance, her chin raised high, arms crossed protectively across her chest, a cigarette dangling mindlessly between her fingers.

Had she seen that sight earlier, she never would have asked Emily to help her try and force Hotch out of his position. Had she understood how strong Emily was on her own without her mother's steele spine to hold herself up by.

…

The first time that Strauss suspected anything was the case after she suspended Hotch officially. Prentiss resigned, and yet the two of them showed up to help the team out anyway. It was the case with the man who abducted women and cut out their hearts with his son's help.

Strauss was standing outside the suspect's house with the team as they tried to figure out probable cause for going in and saving the woman they suspected was inside. Emily broke through the line, insisting she could go in since she wasn't a member of the BAU, and Strauss couldn't stop her.

Before the older woman could do anything, Morgan was handing Prentiss a gun, and she was tucking it into the back of her pants, pulling her shirt down over it, and striding towards the door.

Strauss watched with concern as Emily walked up the front path. She turned away, facing the team to gauge their reactions. Many of them had the same stoic expression, though JJ's eyes were trained on Prentiss's back with an unreadable, conflicted expression on her face.

Strauss wouldn't learn what that conflict was until after the team stormed into the house and took down the killer. Emily got taken out by a two by four and was sitting in the back of an ambulance with blood streaking down the side of her face and even her neck, and JJ was right there next to her. The director headed over to make sure that her agent was recovering alright, the paramedic had moved away, leaving just Prentiss and JJ alone.

Strauss overheard the very end of their conversation.

"That was incredibly stupid of you." JJ admonished.

"I did what I had to do." Emily argued back.

"You had to take Morgan's gun and go in all Gangbusters?"

The brunette merely shrugged in response.

"You did look wrecking sexy with that gun tucked into your waistband."  
Strauss watched a smirk bloom across Emily's face before she replied, "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Strauss saw the air between them practically crackle with sexual energy, and just hoped that nothing had developed from it yet.

…

Strauss knew for certain that the agents were too far gone when they got back from the case in Colorado of two men killing families after they themselves had been abused in a foster home. There was one girl who survived though the rest of her family was executed.

The director wasn't there to see it, but Emily was close with the girl, she couldn't bear leaving her there without any family. JJ did see it.

They were standing in the kitchenette of the BAU, getting coffee when Strauss saw JJ run a reassuring hand down Emily's back. The brunette had been in the foster home after one of the boys snapped, she had to hold her gun at a eight year old while Morgan tried to talk him down.

Emily was taking the whole case harder than usual, having volunteered to take the girl home with her.

Strauss heard JJ's soft words of encouragement, "We did good, you know."

"I know.I'm just having a hard time remembering it."

In the jet, JJ had said she thought it was a good idea, Emily and kids, and now se couldn't help but return to it.

"We could have that, you know."

Ever the smart ass, Emily couldn't help but try and downplay her emotions, "We could also have a five story mansion in the Bahamas, but we have the job."

JJ rolled her eyes, "I'm serious." She grabbed hold of Prentiss's bicep, forcing the taller woman to make eye contact, "We could have a family."

The two shared a brief smile while Emily finally allowed herself to imagine that, her and JJ in a house with a big yard, a golden retriever, and a couple of kids running around in the sunshine.

It was a beautiful image, but Straus clearing her throat and pushing around the corner cleared it from Emily's mind. JJ's hand automatically dropped from the older woman's arm, and she picked up her coffee, turning to leave, "If you need anymore help with that report, let me know."

"Of course." Prentiss nodded.

She bit her lips while she finished stirring the creamer into her coffee, Strauss waited until JJ was entirely out of earshot before she addressed the brunette.

The director took a moment, sizing Emily up. She knew the environment that the agent grew up in, being an ambassador's daughter. She knew that the woman wouldn't make such a big move without fully considering it.

"I hope this is worth it for you, Emily. I hope she is worth it."

The agent stiffened considerably, before tapping the stir stick on the side of her mug and tossing it into the trash. She took a moment and a deep breath before she replied, "She is."

* * *

 **A/N- I like to think that Strauss had a sort of weak spot for Prentiss, I'll admit that this is sort of OOC for the director, but I like it that way :)**


	9. JJ's Father

**A/N- I did a thing. This just kind of happened, I never planned to write this one, but I found this story again and it just spilled out. I'm working on Ambassador Prentiss next. Hope you like this, let me know what you thought!**

* * *

10\. JJ's father

JJ was in third grade and still want by 'Jenny' when she came home after school one day with the brightest smile her parents have ever seen on her. Her father was sitting in the front room watching a game, JJ pulled herself into her favorite spot, halfway in her father's lap, sprawled across the couch as much as she possibly can, and tried to figure her way through the game.

"How was school Jen?" He asked, running a hand through her unruly blonde locks, but not taking his eyes off the game.

"It was great! I made a new best friend!"

"What's their name?"

"Anna!" JJ said, practically humming with excitement, "She plays soccer, and draws better than I can, and she's the prettiest girl in the whole school. We're going to be best friends forever."

Finally, he drew his gaze from the screen to look down at his youngest daughter whose eyes were following the football as it got intercepted on the television. He looked down at her skeptically.

"She's the prettiest girl, huh?"

"Mhm." JJ hummed in confirmation, "She's got the prettiest eyes and hair. They're like chocolate."

He focused on the feeling of her silky hair under his fingers, she had the same hair as her mother and as her two older sisters.

But she's different, JJ's hair has been sweat soaked from running around in the backyard throwing the football with him, it's been drenched from capsizing the fishing boat with him, it's been riddled with dirt and sticks from hiking in the woods, she's his little girl.

In seconds, he can see everything he's dreamed of giving her, intimidating boys when they come to take her on dates, walking her down the aisle, holding her hand when she says that he's going to be a grandfather, watching her children so she and her husband can escape for a dinner out. It's all gone. But she's still here with him.  
"That's great Jen, you'll have to have her over for dinner one day." He said before going back to the game.

…

He never did forget that moment. He didn't forget it when JJ joined the soccer team, when she showed absolutely no interest in boys until high school when all of her friends got boyfriends.

He didn't forget it when she finally did come home one day with the announcement that she was going to the movies with Aaron Johnson the next night. He watched his older daughter brighten at the announcement, immediately grabbing JJ and dragging her into her bedroom for 'a complete makeover'.

He stared Aaron down when he came to pick her up, and made sure he knew to have her home by ten because it was still a school night.

He pretended not to peek through the curtains with his wife when Aaron walked his baby up to the front porch. He saw how she smiled kindly at the boy, saying she had fun, he watched her give him a hug, and pull away before he could try and plant a kiss on her lips.

…

When JJ was a senior in high school, she was finally going by 'JJ' instead of 'Jenny'. She was the captain of her soccer team, she had a scholarship to college, and she had been dating Aaron Johnson for nearly three years.

JJ's father did not like him.

But JJ's father knew better than to intervene. He knew better than a lot of things. Like the day he came home from work early, his wife was out of business visiting her family so it was just him and JJ, and he had told his daughter that he would be working late that night. He had just popped back to the house to grab some paperwork he had forgotten.

He saw Lily's car out front next to JJ's. Lily was on the soccer team with JJ, and the two were practically inseparable this year, both girl's boyfriends played on the baseball team together.

He thought nothing of it, and was halfway through the house when he realized how quiet it was. He was at the entrance to the living room next to his office when he saw, and it stopped him dead in his tracks.

His baby girl was flat on her back on their couch, Lily straddling her hips, both girls locked together at the lips. He was frozen when he saw one of the brunette's hands groping at his daughter's chest, but was spurred into action when JJ's own hands landed on the other girl's ass squarely.

He backed out of the room as quickly and quietly as possible.

That night at dinner (Lily stayed over for pizza since JJ's mother wasn't there to cook), and he couldn't help but feel himself smiling ridiculously at the large hickey JJ still didn't realize she had peeking out from her collar.

…

He would never forget that first time ever since JJ had moved to DC that she had called home to say she was bringing someone home for Thanksgiving. 'Someone really important to me, so please try to be on your best behavior.' She had said.

The entire family was buzzing with excitement as they waited for the blonde's arrival, guesses were flying as to the mystery guest's identity while her father just smiled to himself and prayed that it was someone who shaved their legs rather than their face. JJ deserved to be happy.

When they heard a car pull into the driveway, everyone abandoned their occupations to crowd around the door, peeking sneakily out of the curtains as they watched JJ emerge from the passenger side of the car. She flipped her blonde hair over a shoulder, and walked around the car to the driver side, opening the door and practically dragging out the occupant.

When the woman shook out her brown hair and handed the keys to JJ to put in her purse, her father couldn't contain his smile.

They walked together up the driveway, their air hanging before them in small puffs of cold air. He watched JJ lose her footing on a patch of ice, and the woman easily pulled JJ into her with an arm around the blonde's waist to prevent her from sliding any more.

JJ smiled widely at the woman, and he knew that smile. He would have to have a serious conversation with this woman.

When they made it up to the porch, and JJ was about to ring the bell, the woman said something the family on the other side of the door couldn't hear. JJ turned around, so they could no longer spy on her face. Rather they watched the expression on the brunette turn from concern to amusement, and finally to a relaxed and open smile when JJ reached up to push a bit of the brunette's hair behind an ear, and followed it with a soft reassuring kiss.

It was approximately two seconds from the time JJ rang the bell until the door was opened.

"Hey Dad," She smiled, "This is Emily."

…

Years later, when things calmed down, when they calmed down, when they were older, and old enough, when they got into a regular schedule of enduring Thanksgiving with Emily's family and Christmas with JJ's on alternating years, Emily cornered JJ's father in the kitchen.

That is more to say she volunteered to help him with dishes the day before Thanksgiving. Her hands were shaking as she loaded the dishwasher after he rinsed the plates. Normally the two of them got along great, talking about everything from sports and cars to guns, she usually kept up better than JJ's older sister's husband.

But this time was different because the ring she bought a month ago has been burning a hole in her wallet for a month now. When the final dish was loaded, JJ's father raised a questioning eyebrow at her, he knew exactly what was coming.

He had been preparing for this conversation since the first time his little girl came home from third grade and told him about her new friend Anna.

He had been preparing for this conversation even when Aaron Johnson came to pick his baby up to take her to prom. For a while he wasn't sure he would ever get to have this conversation with a woman who loved his daughter, but the Supreme Court had made sure he would get to have this conversation, he would get to walk JJ down the aisle, and he would get to get toasted at the reception and give a painfully embarrassing speech.

When Emily ran a hand through her hair, mussing it further rather than helping anything, and spoke to her feet when she said, "Your daughter is the best thing that's ever happened to me…"

He can hardly contain his smile and wait for her to finish her speech before giving his unconditional permission, blessing, endorsement, go-ahead ('Hell, Em, you can have it all!') for Emily to marry his little girl.

* * *

 **A/N- So just a quick sorry it took so long to update this story, hope you enjoyed this, have a wonderful thanksgiving :)**


	10. The Ambassador

**A/N- Only a few more important chapter left. Thank you so much for the great response to the last one, hope you enjoy Ambassador Prentiss!**

* * *

Nothing got by Elizabeth Prentiss. Emily used to think she was sneaky, when she was young, she would smoke, drink, and generally run the streets with the other children of the politicians her mother rubbed elbows with.

When she was 15, she realized that Elizabeth knew everything she was getting into and she stopped trying to hide it. Emily took some odd pleasure in breaking her mother's rules so blatantly.

Like when Emily's mother was working in Greece, it took all of two days for the young rebel to establish herself. On day three, she came home to the embassy owned home her family was living in smelling like clove cigarettes with a hickey larger than a quarter on her collarbone.

Elizabeth looked at her over the rim of a glass of scotch, rolled her eyes, and told her daughter, "Don't make any permanent mistakes."

Naturally, the girl's initial inclination was to get both a tattoo, and a radical haircut, but she refrained. This need to spite her mother continued until her senior year of high school when she sobered up and realized she needed to make something of her life.

But JJ was different. JJ wasn't some farmer's daughter with an undercut who smoked clove cigarettes on the cliff sides in eastern Europe, JJ meant something. As such, Emily did everything she could to protect her from facing the full wrath of Ambassador Prentiss.

She did not do well.

Shortly after she began working at the BAU, Elizabeth was in DC. In true Ambassador Prentiss style, she showed up at the BAU unannounced with the grace and flair only she could manage. Emily was sitting at her desk laughing about something Reid had said in response to one of Morgan's dry lines. She had gotten momentarily lost in the slope of JJ's neck- the blonde was sitting perched on the edge of her desk and every so often their legs would brush together- this was before they began dating, so Emily still didn't know what it felt like to run her teeth along that perfect slope, nip lightly at the blonde's pulsepoint, and feel rather than hear JJ's ragged intake of breath in response.

"Emily, dear." The ambassador greeted her daughter when the younger Prentiss stood to intercept her mother.

"Mother." She said, already trying to steer Elizabeth back out of the building, "What are you doing here?"

"I have some business in the area, and I figured I might as well pay my daughter a visit since she refuses to give me an actual answer to the question of if she's coming home for Thanksgiving this year. It's only in two weeks, dear."  
"I know, mother." Emily said shortly, trying her best to hustle Elizabeth from this place she was just beginning to make her own.

The woman was having none of it.

Her eyes skimmed over the three other agents all assembled in a loose huddle around Emily's desk, she had seen the way her daughter was looking at the blonde earlier, and she was not pleased.

"You're not going to introduce me to your coworkers?"

Emily's smile became just that much tighter, "Sure." She led the way back over to her desk, she made the introductions as quickly and as painlessly as she possibly could. The other three were slightly starstruck by meeting the Ambassador, and only Emily noticed the extra appraising glance her mother shot at JJ, or the involuntary eyebrow raise at JJ's midwest accent.

"Don't you have a meeting, mother?" Emily asked, practically hearing the speech her mother was building up in the back of her throat.

"Yes, it was lovely meeting all of you, and seeing you again Emily." As the older Prentiss made her way back out of the bullpen, she threw casually over her shoulder, "I'll expect you for Thanksgiving."

Emily tried- and failed- to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

…

After that initial failure of protecting JJ from her mother's scrutiny, she knew she had to do better. Thus, when Emily first decided to bring JJ as her plus one to one of her mother's infamous dinner parties, she knew exactly what she was doing. Even as she lead the way across the entry way, with JJ trailing her closely, Emily knew what she was exposing her girlfriend to. They had been dating for a few months by this point, and Emily was sure of her decision.

She smiled her practiced Prentiss family grin, and reintroduced JJ to her mother as 'My friend, Agent Jennifer Jareau from the FBI.'

The ambassador's eyes flew between the two women quickly before coming to settle on JJ when she greeted the young woman kindly, "It's so wonderful to see you again, Ms. Jareau."

"You as well Ambassador."  
They shook hands cordially and the ambassador left them to mingle. She cornered her daughter later that evening, pulling her into a niche in the hallway to have a hushed conversation.

"Do you really feel as though that Jennifer girl is appropriate for you."

"She's not a girl, mother."

"She's certainly young enough to be."

"JJ is only eight years younger than me."

Ambassador Prentiss gave her daughter a pointed look, "She was just starting high school when you graduated college."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing we're both out of school now."

With that, Emily turned on her heel and marched from the corner. She found JJ easily enough, taking the woman by the elbow, "We're leaving."

"Emily?"

All it took was one look for JJ to follow her girlfriend.

…

The Christmas following the Thanksgiving that Emily proposed (and JJ gave her an overwhelming yes) found the couple at the Prentiss household for five days.

Emily pulled up in the large driveway, and took a moment fixing her hair and checking her minimal makeup in the rearview mirror before going to exit the car. With her hand on the handle, and one foot already outside of the vehicle, Emily froze, she realized that JJ was making no move to do the same.

"JJ, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that." She trailed off, spinning her engagement ring around her finger. Emily had a complementary one, but she had taken it to a jewelers to get it resized so for now, her finger was bare, "You haven't told your family yet right?"

Emily settled herself back in the car, shutting the door and giving JJ her full attention, "No, I haven't. I wanted to do it in person."

"Should I take my ring off?"

"Never." Emily smiled covering the blonde's hands with her own, "I'll do it soon, I don't want you to take it off."

"Should I ask your father for permission or something?" JJ asked, catching her lip in between her teeth.

Emily laughed shortly, "If anyone, you should ask my mother." Her smile only widened at the expression of pure terror that flashed on JJ's face for a split second, "But don't worry about it. This is more of a conversation I'll need to have with her."

"Alright, if you're sure."

"I'm positive." Emily promised, pressing a gentle kiss to JJ's forehead, "Now let's get out there, there's no alcohol in here and I'm going to need some to make it through this week."

JJ laughed, and whacked the brunette's arm lightly, "You're horrible." She admonished, but followed Emily up the steps to the house.

It took all of ten minutes for Emily to find herself alone in the kitchen with her mother, a glass of wine in each Prentiss's hand, "Pass me the ladle?" Elizabeth asked.

Emily rummaged through the drawer, and pulled out the utensil, "Here."

They stood in silence for a little while, the only sound in the kitchen was the simmer of the pots on the stove. Emily swirled her wine around her glass, contemplating it before taking a healthy sip.

"I'm marrying Jennifer." She said, placing her now empty glass down on the counter.

She watched her mother's shoulders pinch in something like irritation, "I had assumed so."

Emily resisted the urge to roll her eyes, of course that was the congratulations she would receive from her mother. Emily watched the tension drain from her mother's shoulders for a moment while she continued stirring with her back to her daughter.

"I just want you to be happy, Emily."

"I've told you, JJ makes me happy."

"I know." Elizabeth said, she doesn't have nervous ticks, she doesn't do little things like run her hands through her hair if she doesn't know what to say, but she shifts her weight centered in a power stance, "That much is obvious."

"Then why can't you be happy for me?"

"I am." Elizabeth paused, shifting herself, and Emily swore anyone else's heels would crack under the pressure, "You're my only child Emily, I want you to have everything. Everything I can't give you."

"And you don't believe that JJ can give me everything?" Elizabeth didn't respond, so Emily had no choice but to keep going, "She already has given me everything I've ever wanted and so much more."

Elizabeth nodded the slightest bit, "It's a beautiful ring that you got her."

Emily found herself smiling against her will, "Thanks." She knew this was the closest that she would get to approval for now. It was all she could have wanted from her mother.

* * *

 **A/N- I wrote a haiku for you all (may be based in reality)**

 **'Finals season hits**

 **So much studying to do**

 **Caffeine life jacket'**


	11. Elizabeth Prentiss

**A/N- I went on a run yesterday, got lost, found a bench, and wrote this on my phone. I eventually found my way back to campus, but I feel the need to tell you that to 1. explain the potential spelling errors, 2. excuse the philosophical nature of this chapter.**

 **A reviewer said that the last chapter about Elizabeth was more from Emily's POV, and not really like all the others, and they were right. So I'm renaming the last chapter 'Ambassador Prentiss' and this one is 'Elizabeth Prentiss', because I believe there's a difference.**

 **Finally, this story has been nominated for the Profiler's Choice awards as Best Femslash and Best Emily/JJ so thank you so much to everyone who nominated it, now go out and vote! The ballot is located on the Profiler's Choice Awards 2015 Forum.**

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11\. Elizabeth Prentiss

Elizabeth Prentiss was busy. That is to say she was busy in the way that some people were bubbly or kind, it was a constant state of being. Something that curled like smoke in her lungs and settled deep in the pit of her stomach. When she wasn't doing something, she could feel it tingling in the tips of her fingers, this pent up something that she needed to get rid of.

That's how she felt sitting in the hospital room, resentfully running her fingers over the material of the gown she had been guilted into wearing by her husband. Her contractions were still minutes apart and she couldn't contain the nerves she felt in between each one.

She kept running through things in her head, lists of things she had to do, people she had to call, things she had to get. And yet her daughter was not waiting for Elizabeth to get her life in order before she made an entrance.

Hours later, after plenty of tears, laughter, and sweat, and she was sitting with a small girl nestled against her chest. Emily was so small, Elizabeth could hardly believe that something so tiny could have held her life up for nine months, putting the normally controlling woman at mercy of every whim.

It didn't take long for Elizabeth to learn that this was how she would define her relationship with her daughter. Emily made her way through the world exactly the way she came into it- brashly on her own terms, waiting for nobody's approval.

In her early years, this amounted to Elizabeth's general entertainment when she brought Emily with her to work, setting her toddler up in a playpen in the corner, and wasting time she didn't wish to spend doing her work watching Emily figure out how to either unlatch the pen and break free, find some way to climb up and out, or knock the structure over entirely.

As Emily grew up, these little rebellious acts grew up with her.

…

Elizabeth was in the kitchen poking around for something to justify breakfast for her daughter (she wasn't often home for these morning rituals, but now that she was, she finally realized just how clueless she was when it came to this domestic sphere) when she heard the rucous coming from the front room.

She followed the noise to find the reclining chair knocked over, and her daughter sprawled across the carpet beside it.

"What are you doing, Emily?"

"Nothing!" The seven year old immediately covered, jumping to her feet with a slight wobble. She held her left arm gingerly and bit her lip.

"Emily Lee-Anne Prentiss." She warned, using her daughter's full name and a hard look to get the girl to divulge the truth.

Emily folded quickly, "I was playing cops and robbers." The brunette admitted to her sock covered feet, toes digging into the carpet.

"By yourself?"

Emily nodded once.

It was the kind of game Elizabeth remembered from her own childhood, running the back streets of New Jersey, growing up with two older brothers, cops and robbers was the kind of thing Elizabeth Prentiss was intimately familiar with. But her daughter was raised differently, Emily had piano lessons, and was already fluent (as fluent as a seven year old can be) in three languages, she spent more time around politicians and tutors than she did around cops or the gubby street children Elizabeth grew up with.

Elizabeth was drawn from her musings by her daughter's slight scowling, "What's wrong, dear?"

"My arm hurts."

Turns out a small inconvenience for the seven year old was a full dislocated shoulder. Elizabeth never would quite understand how her daughter managed to endure the whole adventure of dislocating her shoulder, going to the hospital, and getting it popped back in place (without pain meds because she was too young) with not a single tear.

Elizabeth knew from that day on, there was nothing that would stop her girl.

…

As Emily grew, Elizabeth would amend her line of thinking from 'there's nothing that can stop Emily' to 'there's nothing that can stop Emily but herself'. The family moved to Eastern Europe, then Greece, Emily made herself scarce, and for a while Elizabeth let herself believe that this was normal teenage rebellion.

Normal teenage rebellion turned into staying out late (or in most cases until early the next morning) and Elizabeth let herself believe this was just Emily trying to fit in. Emily trying to fit in turned into a cloud of cigarette smoke and more often than not, Emily came home glassy eyes with her lip caught viciously between her teeth while she focused intently on the short walk from the doorway to the stairs.

Elizabeth tried to convince herself these were normal things. If she ignored the overbearing smell of alcohol, she could almost pretend they were still in their home in the states where Emily first learned to walk. She would inch her way across the family room with her lip caught the same way, that same intense look of concentration on her face as she took each step. Her body would have the same unsteady wobble.

Elizabeth waited up every single night until Emily got home. She didn't let her daughter have a car because she took such great comfort in hearing the engine of whatever had driven Emily home pull out of the driveway- at least Emily wasn't driving drunk.

She knew Emily was sleeping with boys- girls too- and she let herself believe that this was Emily trying to find herself. She wanted to be able to tell her daughter that this wasn't how; she belonged somewhere, but it wasn't here. Elizabeth wanted to tell her daughter that the world would want so much from her, and sometimes it was alright to not be able to give it. She wanted to say 'people will look at you like you are The Answer, but you are not the answer, you were not made to solve their problems.'

She doesn't.

Instead she sits up waiting for Emily to come home every night, and she tells her, "Don't make any permanent mistakes."

…

Elizabeth knew JJ was right for Emily the first time she saw the way the blonde looked at her daughter. She didn't look at her like she was The Answer. Not even when the two stayed over for their first Christmas together at the Prentiss house, JJ had gotten a phone call in the middle of dinner and when she didn't return for ten minutes, Emily went to check on her. Elizabeth found them embracing in the entryway, Emily stroking Jennifer's hair reassuringly and whispering in her ear.

Elizabeth would later learn that she had just been informed that her grandfather had passed away, but even then, JJ didn't look at Emily like she was The Answer, or a life best, or a safety net. She looked at Emily like she was flesh and bone and permenant and transient and like she hung the moon, but fell off the ladder when she tried to get down.

JJ looked at Emily like she was a question she intended to spend her whole life trying to figure out.

…

Elizabeth knew that the only thing that would stand in Emily's way is Emily. So when her daughter called her in the middle of the night, she answered on the third ring.

"Prentiss."

"It's me, Mom."

Elizabeth rolled out of bed, padding down the hall to her study so she wouldn't wake her husband, "What's wrong, Emily?"

The woman didn't bother to fixate on how her mother knew something wasn't right, "I had a fight with JJ."

"What was it over?"

"I don't know, a lot of little things. We've never fought like this before."

Elizabeth didn't doubt that, the two women had been married for nearly five years and she has never heard Emily sound so distressed in that time.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Watering the lawn."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "It's one thirty in the morning."

"I couldn't stay in the house, we're both too good at fighting and I had to leave before either of us said something we'd regret." Emily explained.

Elizabeth knew this to be true, it was the same way her marriage was, "Ok, first put out your cigarette." Elizabeth commanded.

"I'm not-"

"I know you're smoking, put it out, and don't argue with me."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line until Emily huffed out a 'fine'.

"Good, now, do you love Jennifer?"

"Mom-"

"Just answer the question."

"Yeah." Emily sighed, "I love her."

"Why?"

There was another pause and Elizabeth could hear the garden hose in the background.

"I don't know, I just do."

"Exactly." The ambassador smiled, "Some things just don't follow reason. You will pick your love apart if you try to analyze it too deeply. You just need to accept there are some things you cannot explain, and when you get that, you'll understand there's no hurdle you can't overcome."

"But what do I do?"

"Stop drowning your lawn. Go inside, apologize, and work it out. You are the only barrier to your own happiness Emily. Trust me, your stubbornness runs in the family."

Emily heaved a sigh, "Thanks, mom."

"Anytime Em."

Elizabeth heard the hose turn off before the phone was disconnected.

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 **A/N- Let me know what you thought, and go vote!**


	12. JJ

**A/N- So this one is about JJ, though I have to admit, it's more about JJ's head cannon of self discovery than it is about JJ finding out she's in love with Emily.**

* * *

JJ knew she was gay ever since she was a kid. But when you're a kid growing up in a small town in rural Pennsylvania, there aren't words for that. So JJ was quiet at sleepovers when her friends talked about cute boys in their classes, and she did her very best to not look at other girls the way she wanted to.

She didn't have words for it until she was in high school and eating lunch with her friends one day. They barely managed to fit the soccer team around one of the formica round tables with small stools protruding. The girls knocked elbows constantly and drew up extra chairs, sometimes JJ thought this was what family felt like (her own family hadn't felt like this in months since she lost one of her older sisters), and their laughter was interrupted by some boys shouting across the cafeteria.

The girls all turned to watch as some boys from the football team laughed and shoved a freshman down on his ass. One of them kicked away the kid's lunchbox, they all called him names, some flew all they way across the cafeteria to JJ's ears.

Nerd, four eyes, frosh, were all no surprise to her, until she heard, 'fag'.

None of the other girls reacted the way she did, none of the others recoiled as though they were slapped, nobody else looked around quickly to make sure that they weren't the one being called out, nobody except for Lily. The brunette locked eyes with JJ, and both of them shared a knowing look, heat rose on JJ's cheeks until more yelling caught her attention.

It was Aaron Johnson, "Leave him alone, jackass." He said, getting between the freshmen and the football players.

He helped the kid up, and handed him his lunch box.

"Isn't that your boy, JJ?" One of the blonde's teammates teased.

The two had been dating for nearly two years at this point and JJ had never felt like this when she admitted to it. Like there was something burning in the back of her throat when she said, "Yeah, it is."

…

She kissed a girl for the first time ever her senior year of high school, that evening when her mother was away on business and her father was supposed to be working late. She kissed Lily on the couch in her living room, and from the first touch, she swore she was on fire. But the good kind of fire, the way Aaron never made her feel.

She had always imagined that kissing a girl would be soft and gentle, nothing like the awkward fumblings in the backseat of Aaron's car. But it wasn't. This was hard, and desperate, all teeth and heavy breathing, this was two girls claiming what they had known to be rightfully theirs, but they had been denied for years.

This was the end of the world.

This was everything going up in flames, and maybe kissing Lily was the only way she would survive Armageddon, and maybe kissing Lily was causing the earthquakes tearing the world apart.

Because they were eighteen and months away from graduating and moving to different ends of the country, Lily didn't ask before she unsnapped JJ's jeans, and because JJ was tired of pretending to be something she wasn't, she didn't say anything when she lifted her hips to help Lily pull her pants out of the way.

…

College was easier and it was harder. JJ was away from her family, she could be whoever she wanted to be (she tried not to think about how here she didn't have to worry about disappointing her family with whom she was so long as she kept her grades up).

She joined the ultimate frisbee team, she kept her summer tan for as long as she could, she made friends easily and deeply. She went to the parties her friends took her to, she danced with cute boys (and girls), she went home alone and sometimes with others- she didn't drink.

In her second year, she met a girl named Arizona Robbins. Arizona was tall and strong, she met her for the first time in the campus gym. Arizona was leading a spin class, calling out encouragement to the twenty sweat soaked students in front of her. Arizona was wearing the blue shirts they gave out to all the fitness instructors, and her blonde hair was three shades darker with sweat. JJ didn't realize it at the time, but she had frozen and stared at the woman.

Arizona had felt the eyes on her and locked her gaze on JJ. She shot the blonde a wink, smiling when JJ blushed.

They dated for two years, Arizona was in the same grade as JJ, but a year older because she took a gap to do 'City Year' and teach underprivileged kids in inner city Philly. She lives all the way across campus in this single dorm room on the top floor of one of the old dorm buildings. Her room is entirely too small, but it's bright and covered in posters, and it makes JJ feel like home.

And Arizona, she learns is the exact same. She's bright and she smiles without thinking about it, and she brings JJ home with her to meet her family when they've been dating for a year and a half.

She is the one who teaches JJ to be alright walking hand in hand down the street with a woman. She teaches JJ how to smile and shake her head when people ask if they are sisters, and explain without hesitation that their relationship isn't so innocent.

They break up amicably in the easy way that they both know they'll always love each other more than they'll be _in love_ with each other.

…

Emily Prentiss infuriates JJ. Like totally and completely infuriates her. Like everything with the brunette is just too much.

Like she is too put together, too perfect, like there is no chink in her armor. Like she's one of those hyperrealistic paintings that are just the smallest bit unnerving. Like she doesn't bat an eye when she sees her first dead body with the team.

Like Jennifer Jareau is absolutely furious for absolutely no reason the first time she calls the brunette on her cell on a Saturday morning because the team has a case. Not that she justifiably has any reason to be, except that it's not Emily who picks up, but rather some other woman.

Some other woman with a light throaty voice who laughs into JJ's ear and says, "Hello?"

JJ can hear Emily in the background saying something intelligible, "Is Prentiss there?"

"Emily can't come to the phone right now, she has her hands full." The woman said, and JJ could practically hear the smirk on the woman's face, she wanted to slap it off.

"This is Agent Jareau from the FBI, I need to speak to Agent Prentiss."

That seemed to throw the woman as she groaned disappointedly, "It's work." JJ heard her say before there was some rustling and Emily took the phone.

She was breathless when she finally said something, "This is Prentiss."

"We've got a case." JJ replied shortly.

"I'll be right there."

JJ hung up before she could say something she would regret. She tried to ignore how this feeling was a lot like jealousy.

…

When they went to New Orleans, everything changed. Emily and JJ had been 'together' in the most loose sense of the term for nearly two months at that point. 'Together' meaning they slept together, it started after a particularly hard case when they both had too much to drink and they both said things they knew they wouldn't say sober.

For those two months, they didn't say the things they wouldn't say sober. They didn't talk about it, or what they were, it worked for a while.

JJ never missed how Emily had a jealous streak. Or rather a possessive streak, when the team went out for drinks after work, JJ would watch Emily. There was this one muscle in the brunette's jaw that would always jump when men approached JJ, her grip on her drink would always go white knuckled, and she would always have to put in effort not to stare the men down.

JJ found it horribly entertaining.

Those nights, Emily would practically worship her, paying extra special attention to making the blonde unravel so perfectly. Sometimes she even left marks, never too big, and never somewhere the JJ couldn't cover up with her usual blouses. When they went to New Orleans, things changed. JJ could see Emily getting jealous of Will, and she pushed.

She flirted back, she accepted his number when he offered it, and she pushed Emily as much as she knew how. Until finally, Emily snapped. She asked JJ to be exclusive with her.

It was then that JJ learned Emily's jealousy was never because she feared that JJ would lose interest in her, rather it was possessiveness because Emily wanted everyone to know JJ was hers. She wanted to be able to protect the blonde from the world, from the stares of sleazy men in bars, from the dangers of their job, but she couldn't.

The same way JJ couldn't protect Emily from everything, like the case they helped in with little boys taken from their homes in the middle of the night. The last victim wasn't like the rest, he was killed by his eleven year old brother. Emily was with the boy when they found out he was a psychopath.

That night, when they went home- JJ had moved begrudgingly into Emily's apartment (it was far bigger than JJ's own) after they had been together nearly eight months- they changed and went to bed early. Emily was unusually quiet, she always slept spooning JJ with an arm thrown over the blonde's waist, her nose nestled into JJ's neck. But that night, JJ could feel Emily holding her tighter than usual.

JJ didn't bring it up for a few minutes, trusting that Emily would say something about whatever was bugging her. When she didn't break the quiet, JJ did, "What's on your mind?"

Emily didn't even bother pretending she didn't know what JJ was talking about, "How could his parents not know?"

"They probably did, they may have just convinced themselves everything would be fine."

They were quiet again, and JJ could feel Emily thinking too hard. She turned in the embrace and tangled their legs together, "What's really bothering you?"

"You want kids." It was a statement, not a question or even an accusation.

"I do."

"I don't know if I'm strong enough."

That night, it was JJ's turn to hold Emily. She pressed reassuring kisses into the brunette's hair and tried to make sure she knew, she would always be enough.

* * *

 **A/N- First, yes it's that Arizona Robbins. Second, I'm writing Emily's next and it's probably going to be similar to this one with a more head cannon style, but after that will be the final chapter and it will be sort of more explicitly how they happened.**

 **Thanks for reading/reviewing!**


	13. Emily Prentiss

**A/N- This is Emily, there's going to be one more chapter that I'm really excited about which I'll try to post soon. Hope you all enjoy.**

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13\. Emily.

Emily didn't date. At least not well. It's not that she wasn't interested, rather she learned from a young age that power was important, and what better way to have power over someone than to make them care about you?

Moving around the world with her mother, Emily did what she needed to in order to be accepted wherever they went. She said the right things, found the right people- or rather the wrong people.

The first time she smoked, she was thirteen. She was living in Eastern Europe, she attended an American high school for children of ambassadors and the like, and she was already well versed in making bad decisions. It was the middle of the night (or close enough to it) and she was sitting on the roof of a building she was pretty sure was condemned with a group of other teenagers.

Like most bad decisions she made, it was because of a pretty girl. Her name was Quinn, and she had blonde hair cut severely to her jaw. She was a few years older than Emily, and she saw right through Emily's ambivalent exterior. Quinn was the real deal, the live fast die young, she had scars and tattoos and stories to go with them. Her eyes were haunted.

She pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from her back pocket and shook one out, lighting it and taking an easy drag. When she caught Emily's eyes on her, she held the pack out to the brunette, "Want one?"

"Yeah." Emily breathed.

Quinn smirked, shaking another cigarette, her expression deepened when she saw that this one was upside down, "It's my lucky." She said handing it to Emily.

The younger girl pretended that she knew what that meant, accepting it and holding it awkwardly for a second before Quinn chuckled and held up the lighter.

Emily did a lot of stupid things for pretty girls.

…

Emily did a lot of stupid things even in the absence of pretty girls. She got pregnant. She dealt with it. She swore she would never not be in control like that again.

She learned to use people.

She learned to forget them.

The first person who broke her cycle was a slap in the face. It was when she was a sophomore at Georgetown, she was still working as a waitress to pretend to be independent, she was still pretending that she didn't notice her mother putting money in her bank account each month.

She was nearly at the end of her shift one night when a group came into the diner she worked at. She recognized one of them form a lecture she had been in freshman year and the rest of them appeared to be around college aged so she assumed they attended Georgetown too.

They all ordered coffee and a couple of them asked for fries, and Emily tried not to glare at them all because they were ten minutes away from closing.

Emily was a horrible waitress.

She spilled a coffee on a woman. The woman was shocked, then vaguely amused as she watched Emily's attempts to press napkins to the stain, then realized she was touching a stranger's chest, and dropping her hands with a blush.

Emily didn't get a great tip that night, but she did get the brunette's phone number. She called her and they hooked up a few days later, Emily was set to never contact her again, but the woman had other plans.

Her name was Regina Mills, and she didn't take no for an answer. She knew what she wanted and she dragged Emily along every step of the way. She taught Emily that she wasn't the only one who's past was dark and twisty, more importantly, she taught Emily that your past did not dictate your future.

They weren't together for very long, but in that time, Emily learned she couldn't keep everyone out forever.

…

Soon after Emily moved to DC to begin working for the BAU, she got injured. It wasn't anything serious, just a little banged up from chasing a perp, she had been checked over by an EMT on scene and was content to just ignore the pain with some ibuprofen. But when she woke up back in DC the following day with a large bruise covering her ribs, Garcia made her go to the hospital.

She threatened to drive Emily to the hospital to make sure she would get treated.

Emily went in of her own volition. She parked, and walked with only a slight limp into the ER, she checked in and was directed to a chair to sit in to wait. A young guy with floppy hair came by to check her out, and confirmed that she had at least one broken rib.

"I'll just page our ortho surgeon, Doctor Torres, and she'll get you checked out." The boy said, before shuffling away.

Emily nodded and sat breathing heavily.

A tall redhead came into the ER, and looked around boredly until her eyes locked on Emily. She appraised the brunette openly with a faint smirk as she watched the challenge in Emily's eyes. The woman stopped the kid with floppy hair and took the chart from his hands, looking it over quickly before sending him on his way.

She came over to stand before Emily, "So, broken ribs?"

"That's what they tell me." Emily returned flirtatiously.

This, it turned out, was not Doctor Torres but instead Doctor Addison Montgomery.

She was older than Emily, and flirted shamelessly, she was an amazing surgeon, and she understood when Emily had to leave on a whim and came back at odd hours. They dated easily in the way that they were both invested in their jobs, but hated being alone.

She was the one that picked up when JJ called to tell Emily they had a case one weekend. She had spent the night at Emily's apartment and was woken up by her girlfriend between her legs. When the phone went off, she had to do her best to keep her voice steady as she told the agent on the other end that Emily had her hands full.

…

When Emily began dating JJ, all she wanted to do was protect the younger agent. She knew it was a ridiculous thing to think about so much, and she knew that JJ could do a perfectly fine job of taking care of herself, but she couldn't help the urge to protect.

That doesn't mean that she didn't do everything in her power to try and take care of JJ. She suggested they go to the shooting range often, she makes sure that she drags JJ out with her on morning jogs, and she even gets JJ to practice hand to hand combat with her sometimes. When they play wrestle (which happens over everything from Emily hogging the remote, fights over where to order takeout from, and everything in between) Emily never just gives in and lets JJ pin her, she makes sure JJ knows how to knock out her knees, leverage her weight, and make sure Emily can't escape.

It seems to work for a while, Emily can let herself believe that she's protecting JJ. The blonde doesn't get injured in the field, she still has nightmares sometimes about dogs in old barns, but when she wakes up in Emily's arms, she always can fall back to sleep.

It seems to work for a while until a serial killer who harvests his victim's eyes says something to JJ after they catch him. He tells JJ that she has 'real pretty eyes'.

Emily thinks that everything is alright until that night. Emily is waiting in bed, trying her very best to read a Vonnegut novel while JJ is finishing getting ready for the night in the bathroom. When Emily finally loses her patience, she swings her legs over the side of the bed and pads into the bathroom.

She finds JJ staring blankly at herself in the mirror.

"JJ?" Emily asks gently.

"They're blue. They're not ringed with green, or flecked with gold or any other weird cliche, they're just blue." JJ says quietly.

Emily just waits.

"My eyes aren't anything special, there's no reason for him to have said that."  
Emily steps fully into the bathroom and carefully takes JJ in her arms, letting the blonde rest her head on her shoulder while she keeps talking out her concerns, "But I guess, blue eyes is a recessive trait so they're not that common. But our kids will have a one quarter chance of having them too."

Emily just rubs JJ's back. She does not say anything about how JJ has just moved into Emily's apartment two weeks ago, she doesn't mention how they aren't married, and how they sure as hell haven't talked about kids.

Instead she leads JJ back to bed, curls up behind her, and presses a kiss to the back of her neck. She may not be able to protect JJ from everything, but she'll never stop trying.

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 **A/N- Thanks for reading, and if you liked it, go vote for this story on the Profiler's choice awards for best Emily/JJ or best femslash story. Also drop a review if you want.**

 **For those of you keeping track that's 3 little crossovers from 3 different shows. Quinn Fabray from Glee, Regina Mills from Once Upon a Time, and Addison Montgomery from Grey's Anatomy ;)**


	14. The Girl Next Door

**A/N- This concludes this story. Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

* * *

"The most basic and somehow forgettable thing is this: Love is not pain. Love is goodness. And real love-it's less shiny than solid and simple."  
― Deb Caletti, The Secret Life of Prince Charming

* * *

Anna was a sophomore in college when she got an apartment of her own finally. She was working in the campus library and doing her very best to support herself- which amounted to her living off ramen and doing her best to minimize all other living expenses. She met her neighbor across the hall for the first time when she came home late one evening from a study session.

A tall brunette woman was angrily wrestling with her door. Anna tried her very best not to watch as the woman swore, reared back and drop kicked the door before dropping the duffle bag from her shoulder and throwing it at the wood. The college student raised her eyebrow at the outburst.

"Remind me never to piss you off." Anna joked.

Her neighbor ran a hand through her hair and smiled weakly at Anna. The action pulled back her trench coat and revealed a gun strapped to her hip, "Sorry about that."

Anna just smiled back and shrugged, "I'm sure the door deserved it."

The woman barked a laugh, "I'm Emily." She said, offering her hand to Anna.

She learned later (from the old woman at the end of the hall who gossips with the mailman and owns the cat that's always meowing on the fire escape) that Emily works for the FBI.

…

One morning, when Anna is half asleep and leaving her apartment to go to an eight thirty class, she freezes in her doorway. A tall leggy redhead is leaving Emily's apartment at the same time. Anna scans the woman appraisingly from the corner of her eye. She struts down the hallway with Anna's eyes following her, when she's about to turn the corner, Emily bursts out of her apartment, a cellphone held in her hand.

"Addison!" She calls down the hall, jogging to catch the redhead, "You forgot this." She tells the woman who thanks her and tucks the phone into her purse. Anna watches the redhead lean down the slightest bit to press a quick kiss to Emily's lips.

She walks out of sight, and when Emily catches Anna's eyes, she blushes bright red. It contrasts perfectly with her normally badass FBI agent persona.

…

Anna watches Sergio for Emily when she goes away on top secret super badass FBI business. She never gets introduced to the redhead, but she always seems to be leaving Emily's apartment around the same time as Anna is running out to her first class of the day. One day, Anna sees a different woman leave in the morning, this one is short and blonde, and Emily doesn't chase her down the hall. After that, she doesn't see the redhead anymore.

…

Anna does get introduced to the blonde. She is sitting on the floor against the wall next to her door waiting for the super to show up. Emily comes home, duffel bag over her shoulder, gun strapped to her hip, and pauses when she sees Anna sitting there.

"Waiting for someone?"

"I got locked out and the super won't be here for at least a few more hours." Anna says blushing.

Emily nods with a smile, "Have you had dinner yet?"

"No."  
The older woman unlocks her door, "How do you feel about pizza?"

Half an hour later finds both women sitting in Emily's kitchen sharing a large pepperoni.

"No way did that actually happen!" Anna laughs.

"Oh yeah, this woman just jumped in the lake and Reid and I had to go in after her. She kept fighting us and I lost one of my boots!" Emily says, "I had to fly home with just the one shoe."

"That's crazy."  
"That's the job." Emily shrugs, taking large bite of her pizza slice.

They eat in quiet for a few minutes until there is a knock at the door. Emily wipes her hands before going to answer it, before she even has the opportunity to say anything, the short blonde Anna had seen once before is halfway into the apartment.

"- and Reid just wouldn't stop going on about how he was playing through every permutation of chess possible." The woman says before she catches sight of Anna, "Oh, I didn't realise you had company."  
Emily blushes in a highly uncharacteristic way, "This is Anna, my neighbor. Anna, meet Agent Jennifer Jareau, FBI press liaison."

The blonde nods in greeting at the younger woman and toes the carpet awkwardly.

"We're having pizza if you want to join us." Emily offers.

The blonde looks uncertain, and Anna finds it odd that the woman would be so torn over a dinner invitation when she is so clearly comfortable coming into Emily's space like this.

"I should probably get going-"  
Emily cuts the woman off with a hand on her elbow, "JJ, stay."  
They share a moment of eye contact that made Anna feel like she is intruding on something private and JJ nods, "Alright."

…

Anna gets to know JJ, and more often than not when she drops Sergio back off to Emily's apartment when she returns from a work trip, the blonde is there. Singing while she makes breakfast barefoot in the kitchen, or emerging tousle haired from Emily's bedroom, JJ was always there.

Anna finds out when the blonde is officially moving in because she sees the boxes stacked up in the living room. They say simple things like 'books' and 'shoes' and Anna realizes that this must be all that life boils down to, boxes of things you empty next to other people's things to show you want to commit to them. Maybe this is enough.

…

Anna graduates and she doesn't move quite yet. She applies to law school and gets in. Emily and JJ get married, Anna almost catches the bouquet at the reception, but she gets bumped out at the last minute by an eccentric blonde woman she later learns also works for the FBI.

After two years, when Anna is nearing the end of law school, JJ gets pregnant. It was something Emily had confided to Anna they had been trying to make happen for a little while and were so incredibly happy when it finally happened. Anna watched with amusement the ways in which Emily tried to make JJ's life easier, the rushing to open doors, the carrying both of their bags. Even more amusing was JJ's insistence that she could manage on her own.

When the baby arrives, Anna hears their rough first weeks of trying to sleep train him. When JJ returns to work, it's the summer and Anna is working regular hours at a law firm as an intern.

She babysits for Henry.

He's the perfect baby. Small with little blonde wisps of hair and the bluest eyes. He completely overtakes the apartment with his toys strewn about, and even though Anna tries her best to tidy up after him, he somehow manages to create a never ending clutter.

The very first time Emily and JJ work up the courage to have a night out after Henry is born, Anna watches him. He does perfectly and she waits after she puts him to sleep for the women to arrive home. When they do, they are absolutely trashed in the hilarious way that means Emily is trying her very best to look dignified when she stumbles through the doorway and uncoordinatedly hangs her jacket up, and JJ can't even try to suppress her infectious giggling.

…

When they move, so does Anna, the two of them to a beautiful house with land, and Anna to a nicer apartment near the law firm she's working at now.

She watches Henry, and their daughter when she arrives a few years later. She sees Emily struggle to put up a swing set in the back yard, and helps house train the puppy Henry convinces them to adopt for his sixth birthday. Anna watches the family grow, she becomes a prosecutor and because of that understands the days that Emily and JJ come home weary from chasing killers.

Anna's never seen a family built on such solid bedrock (her own had been constructed on unstable sediment, crumbling with infidelity and divorce before she ever hit high school). Everything aside, Emily and JJ are solid.

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 **A/N- Drop a final review and vote for this story in the Profiler's Choice Awards if you feel compelled. Feel free to PM me with questions, comments, knock knock jokes, or suggestions for** **future stories.**


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